Huge winery ideal for multinational firm

Pernod Ricard's large-scale Hawkes Bay winery in Napier's industrial Pandora precinct has been placed on the market for sale, with its international owner consolidating production.

The sale follows the divestment of the Lindauer, Corbans and 10 other brands in November 2010, resulting in the former Corbans Winery being significantly under-utilised.

The Pernod Ricard New Zealand Hawke's Bay winery sits on 3.52ha of flat land zoned for heavy industrial use and has the capacity to crush and ferment 10,000 tonnes of grapes per harvest, along with storage capacity for 8.3 million litres of wine.

It has been placed on the market for sale with Bayleys Hawke's Bay through an international tender campaign closing on September 14. The land and plant has a capital valuation of $8.05 million.

Bayleys Hawke's Bay commercial and industrial salesperson Rollo Vavasour says the size of the plant meant the operation would most likely be bought by a multinational company seeking a "turn-key" New Zealand presence.

"The scale and quality of this winery for sale would be attractive to large local producers or multinationals," Vavasour says,

In addition to the winery sale, Pernod Ricard New Zealand may consider selling one or two of its Hawkes Bay vineyards to potential buyers of the winery complex.

Among the buildings at the Pernod Ricard New Zealand Hawkes Bay winery are:

About 1836sq m of cellar plant and storage space including a refrigeration room and expansive warehouse-style storage in fermentation vats and barrels.

A 1187sq m barrel hall with two temperature controlled spaces, along with a barrel washroom.

Administrative offices, laboratory and testing facilities spread over two levels.

A boiler house with a gas-fired heat unit.

A waste water treatment plant, including a concrete sump, a solids screening unit, and a 180,000-litre effluent tank - all overseen by a monitoring room.

"The building and plant infrastructure within the location is vast, totalling several thousand square metres, which is all located within electrified and monitored security perimeter fencing," Vavasour says.

The winery was established in 1986, and in the late 1990s/early 2000s was expanded to upgrade the grape receiving area, waste treatment plant, boiler house and barrel rooms.

In 2005, further development saw the expansion of the staff amenities and, in 2007, the engineering workshops, administration block and laboratory buildings were built to support the growth which the operation had experienced.

Additional amenities include 1600sq m of car parking, an external lighting system allowing for extended production hours during the harvest season and a 60-tonne weighbridge.

"Taking a longer-term view of the New Zealand viticulture market, which is now showing increasing signs of positive recovery, this is an outstanding opportunity for the right purchaser," Vavasour says.